In June 2016, the town gained international attention when new low cost housing was offered there, and local mayor of Clutha District, Bryan Cadogan, estimated there were 100[3]-1000 job vacancies in the region;[4] the news was carried by The Guardian and TVNZ's Seven Sharp.

[5] The town sits close to the coast on one of the branches of the Clutha River's delta.

The small island of Inch Clutha lies immediately to the southwest of the town.

[7] Considerable expansion took place with the arrival of rail and the local population sought to have the town proclaimed a Municipality in July 1878.

When road access was being improved at considerable expense in 1862 there was opposition in favour of a steamer service on the river.

[13] Road access remained problematic up until the mid-1870s due to poor construction and surface flooding.

[14] A rail link (the Kaitangata Line) to the South Island Main Trunk was constructed in 1875, primarily for moving coal.

It is the name of a figure in Māori mythology, but could also refer to cannibal feasts held after tribal fighting between the Kāi Tahu and the Kāti Māmoe iwi in the district.

[16] In preparation for organised European settlement, in 1847 a party that consisted of Joseph Thomas, R J Harrison, and Charles Henry Kettle surveyed the area of land known as the Otago Block, lying between the Clutha and the Tokomairaro Rivers.

[21] Chapman was later adjudged bankrupt because he was not a competent businessman, and a new Post Master was appointed on 1 February 1865.

A minor property boom occurred in 1875–1876 with the arrival of rail in the town, with sections selling anywhere up to £100 by June 1876.

[41] The company made a rail link to the South Island Main Trunk at Stirling in 1875.

[43] The underground mines produced sub-bituminous coal of a high quality, which was used primarily as fuel for the steam locomotives, in use in NZ until the 1960s.

[45] One of New Zealand's early industrial disasters occurred at the Kaitangata mine at 8am on 21 February 1879, when the lives of 34 miners were lost in an underground explosion.

[46] The Coroners Court verdict found negligence on behalf of the mine manager and his brother, together with the lack of legislation as the contributing factors in the disaster.

[48] The remaining open-cast mine produces lignite, which is primarily used in household fires and industrial boilers.

In 1873 local residents petitioned the Provincial Government to construct a Branch Line from the South Island Main Trunk to Ropers Creek near Kaitangata to enable coal to be easily transported from the mines.

[49] In 1874 the Provincial Government applied for consent to raise a £27,750 loan to construct the Branch line with an extension as far as Coal Point.

[50] This was unsuccessful and as a result the Kaitangata Coal Company began to investigate constructing its own line.

[54] The community hoped that by draining the lakes a source of flooding which plagued the area would be removed.

[55][56] A local promotions society (formed from the former ratepayers' association) has improved this image somewhat and has been responsible for numerous civic projects in and around the town.

As an indication of the level of interest, By the end of June daily pageviews for "Kaitangata, New Zealand" on Wikipedia were exceeding those for world cities like Sydney and Los Angeles.

[60] The mayor of Clutha district, Bryan Cadogan, said that "more than 10,000 people" had expressed interest in coming to live in Kaitangata.

[61] At the beginning of July 2016 some media outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle online edition SFGate began falsely reporting that Clutha District Council was actually giving away houses or money to the value of US$160,000 to potential residents.

Accordingly, the promotions group wanted to ensure that it was genuine settlers which were buying the sections and not just speculators.

To achieve this: Rules would be set, including that successful buyers would need to declare their intention for the land, speculators would not be encouraged, and buyers would agree to build within two years.Kaitangata School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[65] with a roll of 105 as of November 2024.